Hello, This is a gumpic I did of the hard working engineers FM Conway, working on the bridge once it had closed. I am currently working in Germany, but still fighting on. I'm not giving up yet. I have copied in a letter that I sent today to my MP Catherine West, and I want to say thank you as ever for the incredible support you have shown me. Please continue to share if you can.

All the very best,

Ben x

Hi Catherine, How are you?

I'm writing to ask if you can help me. About a month ago, I was told by the City Bridge Foundation, that the Millenium bridge was going to be deep cleaned after engineering work, and that my Chewing Gum Trail would be destroyed in the process.

This news was very upsetting, and I felt powerless about it, so I started a petition. There has been an incredible amount of support from people, in favour of preserving the pictures. The Guardian, the BBC and ITV all came to film me on the bridge about the story, and there were several articles written.  I never expected to save all of the pictures, but I felt it was especially important to try to save a coherent trail from St Pauls to the Tate Modern. The trail has been evolving there for over a decade, and people have told me how much they enjoy following it. Kids jump from picture to picture. Tour guides include the trail on their walks. Dustin Hoffman stopped on the bridge recently to tell me that he had always supported my work! Lots of the paintings on the bridge are also memorials and dedications, and the idea of them being removed has been really distressing. The pictures are a celebration of the people I meet every day.

These are some of the comments from the petition and on instagram, 

Hey Ben, I’ve been a fan of your work for a long time. During my first & tbh rather awful year in London, I was often coming to watch you work on Millennium Bridge on Fridays after work. Truth be told, it was one of those huge little things that helped me to feel at home there and I’ll always be grateful for this.
Your work is fun, playful and inspiring, but also has this magical way of touching people's hearts at their core. I truly hope you will be able to save as many pictures of yours as possible  
Best of luck on Friday      - message from instagram

'Ben’s work on the bridge means the world to me. After my grandfather died he painted a chewing-gum for me, I can find it with my eyes closed. Living far away from home, having this place in London where I can go and be with my grandfather is so important to me' Agnese Placi -Change.org petition

He painted a picture for my mam who survived a double Mastectomy. His work is a celebration of the human spirit and should be protected. Rachel Dembry- Change.org petition

This needs to be preserved. They are fantastic miniatures and their route to the Tate across the millennium bridge is the perfect place for them. -Steve Smith- Change.org

'As a visitor to the UK, the Millennium Bridge picture trail is my best memory of London and I have recommended that all my visiting friends look out for it. You are losing a great part of London’s culture by removing it. An unofficial national treasure and one you should protect' Jennifer Champion - Change.org petition

'I still haven't seen them! They've been on my to do list for years and now my sister is coming into town from Reading to see them with me. They're an attraction as powerful as a museum or an art gallery, please save' Caroline Bottomley -Change.org petition

Ben Wilson’s chewing gum art is a valuable social contribution to the walk across Millennium Bridge, and even more fitting when on the way to visit the Tate Modern. It should be regarded as that, respected and preserved. Thank you.- Joe Dempsey

I had a meeting with the City Bridge Foundation on Friday the 13th of October, the day before the bridge was closing, and they said I could save 75 pictures. In my original petition text, I had picked an arbitrary number of a trail of 100 pictures at a minimum that I would like to save, and this is what the CBF were focused on. In reality, numbers have never been what this is about. The CBF has known for some time the strength of public feeling, and that what I most wanted was to work together with them to save a coherent trail for people to follow. I understand that in that process, many pictures would have to go. The evening before, I had received a letter of support from the Deputy Mayor for Culture and Creative Industries, Justine Simons. I read out this letter at that meeting, in which she asked them to consider saving 50% of the pictures. I don't know how many pictures are on the bridge but there are probably close to 600. They said no, and I was very upset. 

'City Bridge Foundation has now made a begrudging offer to save seventy-five of the works on the bridge, but it begs the question: how can you begin to go about choosing who gets to keep their painting and who does not? ' Kathryn Gillespie, The Courtauldian  https://www.courtauldian.com/single-post/chew-on-this-the-campaign-to-save-miniature-masterpieces-on-the-millennium-bridge

There is a chewing gum memorial to my baby nephew who lost his 20 month battle to a brain tumor before he could make it to his third birthday. Please keep the gum art intact. -Faith Doyle 

They left me after that to have a further meeting about it, and I was expecting to hear back from them. That afternoon there was torrential rain so it was impossible to try to protect the work myself and time was running out. I took a small window of opportunity to tape up some pictures as early as I possibly could on Saturday morning when I realised they were not going to get back to me. I only made it one quarter of the way across, before I was asked to leave. There hasn't been any direct communication from the CBF to me since that day.

I don't know if cleaning has started already, and I'm not sure what to do now. I believe from an email I was copied into, that the CBF now considers the matter closed, and that the pictures I marked on that Saturday morning are the most they will attempt to save. I'm in Germany, working at a festival that was organised before all this happened. It has been uplifting in one way to be paid for my work, and to have it respected. But I didn't want to leave London at this time, I feel stressed about not being in the country, and it is hard to focus. The cleaning may start before I'm back but there are people ready in London to preserve a trail for me if the CBF will let them. We estimate it could be saved in three to four hours. We are ready to follow any health and safety requirements necessary. 

I would be very grateful if you felt that there was anything you were able to do to help me. 

 
All the way through this, all I wanted was to work with the CBF, for them to respect and recognise the importance of the work to people, and I feel saddened that I might not be able to keep the trail alive. 

I feel it is important to share the public feeling of support I have experienced with you, which has been very moving regardless of the outcome. People's voices should be heard and celebrated. It's important to keep art alive in our environment. I feel a responsibility to try my hardest for those that have supported me,

All the best, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Ben